


Free to Fall

by reddish



Series: The Tiara Chronicles [1]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Drabble, F/F, ME1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-16
Updated: 2013-06-16
Packaged: 2017-12-15 05:27:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/845840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reddish/pseuds/reddish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tara meets Liara and frees her from that blue force field thingy, and also thinks she's super cute.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Free to Fall

Tara grunted as she jumped from the collapsing wire platforming in the mines. The shock of impact traveled up her kinetically plated boots and kept her from feeling any pain, but the distance was impressive nonetheless. Garrus and Tali'Zorah joined her after the turian took out the last Geth on their tail with his sniper rifle.

            "Hello?" a soft, scared voice called with some urgency. "Can you hear me out there?!"

            Tara spun on her heels to find herself facing a giant, glowing blue wall with a smaller dot of blue lodged in the middle of it. As she approached, she realized the darker blue form was an asari. She was standing (well, hovering), arms and legs spread out and immobilized in the blue energy field that thrummed around her.

            Approaching the field carefully, Tara examined the suspended asari. She was wearing an outfit befitting a reseacher of some kind, green and white fabric that fit her form nicely. And her face seemed younger than Tara expected, based on a brief glance at her dossier before the mission.

            More importantly, she was stuck and frightened.

            "Uh, Dr. T'soni, I presume?" Tara asked, smiling at the girl.

            "Thank the Goddess," Liara sighed in relief. "Yes, but you can call me Liara. I... what are you doing here? Not that I'm not grateful!"

            Tara grinned at her. "I'm here to find you, actually, but I think I'm more curious what you're doing in that thing."

            "Uh, yes. This is a Prothean security device... I accidentally activated it when Geth started attacking me down here. Geth! Can you imagine it?"

            Tali sighed behind Tara. "I wish I was only imagining them."

            "Wait, you've been seeing Geth?" Garrus teased. "I heard quarians were Geth-crazy, but I thought that was just a race joke..."

            "You're an ass," Tali grumbled.

            "What about my ass?"

            "I have a shotgun."

            Tara cleared her throat loudly, causing both her squadmates to fall silent. She turned her attention back to the asari with an apologetic grimace.

            "Can we get you out of there?"

            "Yes, there is a control panel behind me... though I am not sure how you can reach it from where you are. The walkways appear to be falling apart."

            "Leave that to us," Tara assured her. "We'll get you out of there." She turned to get started, but Liara's voice rang out.

            "Wait!"

            Tara looked over her shoulder. "Yeah?"

            "I... I don't even know your name."

            "I'm Commander Tara Shepard of the Alliance Navy," Tara introduced herself. "But you can just call me Tara."

            Liara smiled at her, a pleasant look on that weary face. "Thank you, Tara. Please be careful! There may be more Geth."

            Tara reloaded her assault rifle and threw the asari a wink. "I can handle it."

* * *

            As Tali manned (quarianed?) the control panel and Garrus watched their sixes for Geth stragglers, Tara approached the force field where Liara hung.

            "Okay, now press the middle button on the left hand panel," Liara called to Tali.

            "It made a sound!" Tali announced. "I think it's coming offline!"

            "Oh, Goddess, finall-eek!" Liara was in the middle of her relief when the barrier collapsed, causing her to fall.

            Where the asari was unprepared, Tara had been ready. She caught Liara in her arms, bodies colliding as they both shared a quiet grunt of impact. Liara packed more of a punch than she looked like she would, a surprise Tara counted as pleasant.

            "I gotcha," Tara soothed her, laughing as she helped Liara gain her footing. She drew her arms away from Liara slowly, finding herself somewhat anxious for her to turn and face her.

            Liara was blushing when she did so, darker blue patches appearing under the soft freckles of her cheeks. Tara felt heat rise to her own cheeks in response.

            "I'm... sorry, for all the trouble I appear to be causing you," Liara said, holding a hand to her head.

            "We need your help, Liara. It's no trouble."

            "How could you need my help? I’m a researcher, not a soldier." Liara was puzzled.

            Tara sighed. "It’s your mother, Benezia. She's sided with a rogue Spectre named Saren. They've both been using the Geth as weapons in their attempt to... well, we're not sure yet. I found a Prothean beacon on Eden Prime, and I need your help understanding what it said."

            The asari gaped at Tara in shock. "You... found a beacon? A real beacon? I've been here digging for any sign of an artifact I could find, and you have a beacon I could study..." 

            "She destroyed it," Garrus cut Liara off, calling over his shoulder.

            Liara's jaw settled into a disappointed pout. Tara tried hard not to notice that it was fucking adorable. "You... what?"

            Tara glared back at Garrus. " _I_ didn't _destroy_ it! It just... kind of exploded after it showed me some visions. Blame Kaidan! He got all close and curious about it and activated it!"

            "Okay, clearly there is a lot I must catch up on," Liara sighed.

            "Yeah," Tara agreed, smiling sympathetically at her. The ground gave a groan under their feet, followed by a rumble. "Let's get out of here first, though?"

            "Agreed," Liara nodded. "There's an elevator right behind us. Let's get back to your ship."


End file.
